Close on the heels of her visits to Bhutan and Bangladesh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will head to Nepal on Friday for her next foray in the neighbourhood.
Ms. Swaraj is expected to hold bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey as she attends the third Indo-Nepal Joint Commission meeting in Kathmandu and to prepare the ground for a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi within a few months.
During the visit, India and Nepal will discuss building more hydroelectric projects and India’s investment in infrastructure projects. During Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s visit to Delhi for Mr. Modi’s swearing-in in May, the Indian Prime Minster had asked him to suggest “specific development projects” that India could invest in, and the Joint Commission would discuss them, Mr. Koirala’s foreign affairs adviser Dinesh Bhattarai said.
Ms. Swaraj will speak about the SAARC Summit due to be held in Nepal in November.